The C.O.W. Project
by Bishonen Chaser
Summary: *part 8 uploaded* It has nothing to do with cows! C.O.W. stands for Children Of Warfare. What if the same people who trained Heero also kidnapped his son for the same reasons...
1. Default Chapter

The C.O.W. Project

Introduction: 

                The year is A.C. 216. After the war the boys were praised as hero's for a year and then, as technology got better and new things were possible and new things were happening and were more interesting, the boys were forgotten. In the history books they were portrayed as angels or helpers in a time of need. Some history books even said they died. The world had forgotten the war. The boys were glad and moved on. They used to get together but after a few years they gave it up and their meetings became few and far between. Especially when they all got married and had kids. After 16 years the boys didn't even know where their fellow pilots were. They just lived their lives, never thinking anything would happen in which they would be involved. How wrong they turned out to be…

                Heero walked into his small apartment late one night. He set his briefcase down on the floor. He looked in the kitchen for his 16-year-old son. Usually when he came home from work there would be evidence that his son still lived and ate, everything and anything. Either that or his son would still be in the kitchen eating. But today Heero was pleasantly surprised when he came home to find a clean and empty kitchen. Ever since his wife died, or rather, murdered, when his son was 1 year old, Heero still had not gotten used to cleaning up messes. Heero imagined his wife in the kitchen. 

"15 years…" He said. "Next week."

Heero had never told his son the truth. He just told his son that his mother had died. His son believed it and never asked questions. Heero made his way to his son's bedroom. The door was closed and no music was blaring out of the room like it usually would be if he were in there. Heero frowned. He knocked on the door. Heero frowned deeply when no one answered. He opened the door slowly and he was greeted with silence. The room was empty. Heero assumed the best and figured that his son might just be over at a friends' house. Heero waited until 11 o' clock. It was 30 minutes past his son's curfew and there was still no sign of him. Heero was getting very worried now, it reminded him of the night he found out his wife had been murdered. It had been too similar to this. He had come home one evening to find the baby crying and his wife nowhere to be found. He called the police and they found her body early the next morning. Heero pushed the memories aside and picked up the phone. He called Aaron's friend.

"Hello, this is Aaron's father, is he over there?…Oh, well do you know where he is?…Okay, have him call me if you see him…Thanks."

Heero hung up and dialed another number only to get the same response. After calling all the people he could think of and not one of them having seen Aaron since school that morning he grabbed his coat and convinced himself that his son must still be alive and that he would find him. He was just about to leave the apartment when the phone rang. Heero dashed to get it. He picked it up.

_"Is this Heero Yuy?"_

"Yes, who is this?"

"Heero? Man buddy, you sound old! Well I suppose you are 36 like me…" "Who are you?" Heero interrupted. "You mean you don't recognize your old buddy Duo?" "Duo? Duo Maxwell? Gundam pilot Duo Maxwell?" "Now you're catching on!" "Why are you calling me now? I mean, it's been a while, I just didn't expect…" "Well actually I need you to help me with something. You see, my son is missing." Duo's voice lost its cheerful ring. "He's just gone! I called all his friends and they haven't seen him. They say he got into the car with some people after school and I just can't believe that…I mean he's all I left you understand! After Jessi died last year it's been hard but we've been there for each other and I just…I just…" 

            "Hold on just a sec. Did you say your son is missing?" 

_"Yeah, I don't know where he is."_

"My son is missing as well, I was just about out go looking for him when you called."

"Your son is missing too?" 

"Yes, that's what I said."

"Oh no…" 

"What? What 'oh no'? I don't want to hear that!"

_"No Heero, I think this might be a planed thing."_

"Excuse me?"

"Do you remember when the government looked into that C.O.W. Project?" 

Heero's heart jumped when he heard those words.

"Children Of Warfare…" Heero whispered into the phone.

"They said that it was all a misunderstanding and that the C.O.W. Project isn't real and all that crap, well it is real, I've been there. Anyway, I have some clues that point to them as the people who took my son. What if your son was taken by the same people?"

"Don't say that!" Heero said loudly.

"Why?" 

"I refuse to believe that my son was taken by the same people who took me."

*Flashback*

                8-year-old Heero stood in a line with other boys of all ages. He watched as a man walked down the row examining each boy. When the man came to Heero he stopped. Heero remembered everything he was told as stood as quiet and still as he could. This man spent a little longer on Heero than he had with the rest of the boys. After a few minutes the man spoke to the leader of the compound where Heero had been taken when he was little.

                " I'll take this one." The man said, pointing to Heero.

                Heero felt scared, he knew this day would come, he had been taught that ever since he could remember. He was a Child Of Warfare, that's what he had been told all his life.

                "Are you sure you want that one, Odin?" The commander of the C.O.W. Project asked the man standing in front of Heero. "He's kinda scrawny, I figured a few more years and he'd be ready."

                "No, he is just what I need, I will finish up his training."

*End Flashback* 

                And sure enough he had, Heero remembered the days he had spent with Odin well. 

_"What? What do you mean by that?"_ Duo asked.

"When I was little, ever since I can remember I was in a compound. There were other children like me; some of them couldn't remember their parents and some of them would cry all night long because they had been taken away from their parents. I was lucky I didn't have any parents to remember."

"So you mean you were there too?" 

"Too?"

"I was there, at the C.O.W. compound. Others there told me that I had been 2 when I had been brought there; I left when I was 6, escaped. I was the only one to escape from the compound."

"Then that means we were there at the same time. I had been there ever since I could remember and I didn't leave until I was 7. I wonder if we knew each other and don't remember. I remember hearing about a boy who had escaped, I promised myself I'd escape one day."

For a moment the two comrades paused.

_"We have to get them out." _Duo said.

"Where should I meet you?"

"Texas Interstellar Airport."

"I'll be waiting for you when you get there." Heero said.

"But how will you know where I am?" 

"Just leave it to me."

Heero hung up the phone and grabbed some things and headed for the shuttle port. He would get to earth as soon as possible.

Duo walked off the plane and spotted his buddy immediately.

"Well you sure do look different but you're still the same Heero I knew 20 years ago." Duo said as he sized up his old pal.

"Hurry up, I have a car parked outside."

Duo followed Heero through the busy airport to an S.U.V. parked outside.

Heero sped to the freeway that would take him to the C.O.W. building.

After driving for an hour Heero slowed in front of a ranch. The sign read, 

Welcome to C.O.W. Ranch 

NO TRESSPASSING

Private Property

Heero turned up the drive and rode slowly to the small ranch house set on the large property. To anyone else it would have looked like a normal ranch that you see scattered all over Texas. Although now Houston had become one of the busiest cities in the world the plains of Texas were still left undeveloped. This was the perfect place to put a compound where children were held against their will and trained to be used as weapons of war. Heero eased to a stop in front of the house. A ranch hand, or what looked like a ranch hand but what, as Heero knew, was really an agent in disguise, came over to Heero's open window.

"Can I help you?" The man asked with a country accent that was most likely fake.

"Well we seem to be lost." Heero said. 

Duo had pulled out a map and was bending it and turning it over in his hands. He was doing a good job making it look like he had no idea how to use one.

"Well then you must be way out of your way because there's nothing around here for a while. I suggest that you turn around and head back to where you came and try again."

"Well I'm pretty sure I'm going in the right direction but I think the road I'm looking for is up this way, couldn't you just tell me where it is? That would be such a help." Heero said, resisting the urge to shoot the man right then and there.

"Well this is a drive way to a ranch, not a street and incase you missed the sign at the front, it said no trespassing. This is private property so I'm going to have to ask you to leave. If you don't I'll have to get the authorities involved."

"No, no that's fine, we'll leave," Heero paused as he looked deep into the man's eyes. "As soon as I get my son." Heero said. He then took out a gun and shot the man in the forehead. The man fell to the ground and Heero opened his door and jumped over the man. 

"That's for taking my son!" Heero than ran alongside Duo toward the house. The two ran to the side of the house and Duo kicked a small window open that lead to the basement. Duo jumped down and shot the other ranch hand looking agent who was trying to call for help. Heero followed Duo into the basement and kicked the dead body out of the way and started trying to break the code to the hidden door. After a few unsuccessful attempts the number pad started to beep and a hidden door in the floor opened. Heero and Duo hurried down the steps. To their surprise not that many agents were around. They made their way to the barracks where the kids were kept. Once they got there they found that a heavy door had been placed and locked over the entrance to the "keeping room" as it was called.

While Duo looked around for something he could use to break the door down Heero knocked three times on the door. A minute later it opened and a surprised guard was shot in the head. This frightened the children in the room and they all ran to safe places. All except two that is.

"Dad!" Aaron yelled as he fan toward his father. Heero hugged his son as the other boy who did not run away when the shots fired, ran to Duo.

"Shane!" Duo said, as he also hugged his son.

"Come on, we have to leave here, they'll be discovering that someone has broken in at any minute. As Heero, Aaron, Duo, and Shane ran to the exit a girl came out of hiding and ran up to them.

"Please, take me with you! My father will pay whatever you want for my rescue! You can't leave me here, I wasn't meant to be here."

Heero stared into her large hazel eyes. They were filled with tears and longing. Heero couldn't say no, after all she said she had a father. Her father was probably as worried about her as he was about his son. Heero nodded to the girl and the 5 then ran to the S.U.V. Heero and Duo were kept busy shooting at agents as they climbed into the car. Heero pealed out of the dirt driveway as fast as he could without turning the vehicle over. Heero sped away from C.O.W Ranch as fast as he could, he was eager to put those memories behind him once again.

As Heero drove to the airport he kept checking the rear view mirror for two reasons. One to see if he was being followed, and the other was to look at his son as make sure he was still there. Every time he did this is also noticed the girl sitting beside his son. Somewhere along the trip to the airport she had fallen asleep. Heero remembered that he still had no clue who she was.

"Aaron?" Heero asked.

His son turned his bright blue eyes to his father. Aaron looked sleepy as well.

"Do you know this girl?"

Aaron looked over at the girl sitting next to him. "No." He answered. "All I know is that she's 15 and that she hadn't been at that place very long."

Heero nodded as he parked at the airport.

Aaron got out of the car. Duo and his son who had sat in the back followed him. Heero woke up the girl and she yawned and pushed her long, thick, blonde hair out of the way before getting out of the car. As the group of five walked into the airport Heero kept looking over at his side where the girl walked. The layers in her hair complemented her round face and though her eyes were hazel, they were more of a green hazel. She reminded him of someone but he couldn't place whom! Heero walked up to the counter and asked for 5 tickets on the next shuttle to space. He didn't care what area, just as long as he got up there. He was told that one was boarding as they spoke. The group made their way to the shuttle and got their seats just as the captain announced that the ship would be leaving in 5 minutes.

Heero, Aaron, and the girl sat in the three middle seats and Duo and his son had the two seats to the left of him and one aisle up.

"Dad, why did you get tickets in fake names?" Aaron asked.

"Well I wasn't sure if we were being followed or not so I did that just to be safe. I don't want whoever took you the first time to get you again! Speaking of which, how did they get to you?"

"Well I was at school and during 1st period I get called to the principles office because my teacher said that I had a message. So I got the principles office and no one is there. I thought that that was a little weird but I just blew it off and I waited in one of the chairs. Well before I knew what had happened someone puts a rag over my nose and mouth and I'm knocked out. I woke up at that place."

"So you were kidnapped too?" The girl asked.

"Wait, do you mean you were kidnapped too?" Heero asked.

The girl nodded. "I was by myself walking home from school and some guys just rushed me and knocked me out the same way they knocked that guy out." She pointed to Aaron.

"Oh, I'm Aaron." Aaron said, introducing himself to the girl. "I was going to introduce myself in the car but you had fallen asleep."

"Oh, yeah, I was just so happy to be out that I finally realized how tiered I was. Anyway, I'm Ashleigh."

"My name is Heero." Heero said. "I'm Aaron's father."

"Oh yeah, do you have a phone? My father must be worried sick! I should call him."

"Speaking of fathers, who is yours?" Heero asked.

"Oh yeah, sorry about that, I'm Ashleigh Winner, My father is Quatre Raberba Winner."

                                                                                                                                To Be Continued...

Authors note: so what do you think? Huh? I wanna know! This fic is, um, how would you describe it? Going to be a little different from the others I've written. Not as much humor, but knowing me some will get in. I'm going for the serious, deep plot stuff that I like to read but never write. Since this is my first really serious one that should be pretty long and take a while for me to finish I'll need some help. So if you have any ideas for something interesting that I could throw in I'd really like to hear them. If I use any of the ideas I get I will certainly give you credit. So please review and feel free to email me with your ideas, I don't care how stupid they sound to you, they may be just what I need, or I might be able to use the general idea or whatever, just don't be shy to give me ideas. Hope you liked this first part and that it was enough to keep you interested so that you'll come back to read the next parts.

~Bishonen Chaser~


	2. well what do you think would come after ...

The C.O.W. Project

Part 2

A colony in the L3 area

                Duo walked into the hotel room that Heero was sharing with his son and Ashleigh. Heero was on his cell phone so Duo waited to speak with Heero. 

"Okay, I've got it. Thanks for your help. Bye." Heero pushed the "end" button on his cell phone.

" Was that information? Did you get Quatre's number?" Duo asked.

"Yeah." Was the reply.

"Shane is sleeping in our room."

"Yeah, Aaron's asleep in that bed." Heero pointed to one of the two double beds in the room as he punched some numbers on his phone.

"Where's Ashleigh?" Duo asked.

"Taking a shower." 

As if to make Heero's statement true the water started running in the bathroom. Heero pressed, "send" on his cell phone.

"Quatre?"

_"Yes, who is this?"_

"This is Heero, Heero Yuy."

_"Heero? Oh my, I mean it's been a while."_

"Yes, it has. I have some information on your daughter."

_"Ashleigh? What about her? I didn't know you knew I had a daughter."_

"Well I didn't. I just found out a couple of hours ago. I just wanted to let you know that she is safe and with me and Duo."

_"Safe? What happened? Is Christi okay?"_

"You mean you don't know what happened? You didn't know your daughter was kidnapped?"

_"Kidnapped! No I had no clue! She was visiting her mother. Tell me, what happened? Is Christi okay?"_

"Well I don't know about any Christi but Ashleigh was kidnapped by this organization that call themselves The C.O.W. Project. My son and Duo's as well was also taken. Duo and I went to get our sons out when a girl came up to us and asked us to take her with us as well. She said she had a father who was worried sick about her and I couldn't leave her there because I knew how I felt when I found out that Aaron was missing."

_"But I never knew she was missing! Like I said, she was visiting her mother, my ex-wife, we're divorced. Christi never called to tell me!"_

"I'm sorry, but Ashleigh is safe."

_"Well thanks again. I'll call Christi and talk to her,"_

"Call me later to work everything out with Ashleigh."

_"Okay. Can I talk to her?"_

"She's in the shower. I'll tell her you said hi."

_"Thank you."_

"No problem, bye."

_"Bye."_

Quatre hung up the phone and sighed. He picked it back up and called his ex-wife.

_"Hello?"_

"Christi? It's me."

_"Oh…"_

"You sound worried, is everything okay over there?"

Christi didn't answer right away and Quatre started to become mad. He never thought that his ex-wife wouldn't tell him about something as important as this.

_"Yeah, everything's fine." _Christi finally answered.

"What about Ashleigh? Is she there, can I speak with her?"

_"Uh…she's out."_

Quatre sighed.

_"I have to go." _Christi hung up the phone before Quatre could say anything.

Quatre sighed and went to pack a bag. He was going to get his daughter from Heero himself. He would call Heero later to tell him he was coming.

"Ashleigh I talked to your father. He said to say hi." Heero said when Ashleigh came out of the shower. "He called back later and said that he was coming here to get you. The thing is, he said that your mother never called him to tell him you were missing."

"Sounds about right." Ashleigh said, looking at the floor.

"If you don't mind my asking, what happened between your parents to make them be this hateful toward each other?"

"That's just it, they don't hate each other. Well at least my dad doesn't hate my mom. He still loves her and the only reason they got a divorce was because dad knew she wanted it and he knew that it would make her happy. I don't know why my mom hates my dad. She never talks about it. I don't really like visiting my mom. I live with my dad most of the time now. At first my mother had custody of me but then, earlier this year when I turned 15, I was aloud to make my own choice of where I wanted to live, I picked my dads. My mom hates him even more for that, she probably hates me too because I remind her of him."

"I'm sure your mom doesn't hate you." Aaron said, sitting up on the bed.

"Well you haven't met my mom!"

There was a tense silence as Duo walked into the room with Shane.

"Good you guys are all awake! So whatta ya say we go get something to eat, I'm starved!" Duo suggested.

"Sounds good to me." Aaron said getting up from the bed.

Heero and Ashleigh followed.

"Daddy!" Ashleigh said as her father walked through the door to the hotel room. He set his bags down and hugged his daughter.

"Hey honey, is everything alright."

"Yeah."

"Hey Quatre, it's been a while! You look really different!" Duo said shaking hands with his friend.

"So do you!" Quatre said. "Where's Heero?"

"Oh, he's downstairs looking for a phone book." Aaron said.

"You must be Heero's son, you look a lot like him." Quatre said.

Aaron nodded.

"And this is my son, Shane." Duo said, introducing his son.

"Nice to meet you Shane." Quatre answered.

The group turned around as they heard someone slide a key into the lock. A minute later Heero walked into the room with an electronic phone book.

"Heero, what's the phone book for?" Quatre asked after the two had said hello.

"I'm afraid that the other boys children might be in danger. I want to call them and make sure everything's okay."

"What makes you think they're in danger?"

"Well if our kids were taken, why not theirs? I have a hunch that they just wanted to get the children of the Gundam pilots taken away from us."

"Do you think that they think we're dangerous?"

"No, if they thought that they would have used the court to take our kids away, they wanted our kids to use as weapons of warfare. They knew that our children would be better suited for that kind of a life than other children because of the jeans they inherited." Duo interrupted, answering Quatre's question.

"Well if the other boys kids were taken then we'll have to get them out, right?" Quatre asked.

"Yes." Heero answered.

"But what if they weren't taken, and they're safe? There's still a chance they might be kidnapped, right?"

"Yeah, I guess."

"And what if our children become targets once more, what if this time they just try to kill them? We need to move to a more safer position."

"I think Quatre's right." Duo said.

"But what about the children already in the compound? We can't just leave them there!"

Heero thought about that for a moment.

"You're right." He finally answered.  Heero thought for a moment. "Let me call Trowa and Wufei and then we'll figure out what to do."

"Why don't' we all go into one of the other rooms and watch TV or something while Heero calls." Duo offered. The Kids nodded and followed Duo and Quatre to Quatre and Ashleigh's room.

First Heero looked up Wufei. The phone rang for a minute and just when Heero was about to hang up an answering machine picked up. Heero left a message telling Wufei to call him back and just before he was done a voice picked up the phone.

_"Heero?"_

"Wufei?"__

_"Yes, what do you want?"_

"Do you have any kids?"

There was a pause. _"Yes…I have 2."_

"Do you know where they are?"

_"Yes."_

"So then they're safe?"

_"What are you getting at Yuy? Are you trying to threaten my family? I will kill you if you try to hurt anyone in my family."_

"No, Wufei, I'm only trying to help you. You see, Duo's son, my son and Quatre's daughter were kidnapped a few days ago. I just wanted to make sure your family was safe."

_"My family is none of your business!"_

Heero spent the next 15 minutes explaining about the C.O.W. Project and about how they wanted to get the other children out of that place. After a bit of arguing Wufei agreed that it was the right thing to do.

"So it would probably be safer if you and your family came to where we are. We're planning on getting to a safer location where we can work better."

_"Well I'll come help you out but my family won't be coming with me."_

"Why not? Don't you want to protect them?"

_"Yes…but…my wife put a restraining order out on me, I can't go within 100 yards of my children."_

"Is there nothing you can do?"

_"I've tried everything."_

"I'm afraid that your children might be in danger as we speak. Have you even talked with them lately?"

_"I talked to my son about a month ago, against my wife's wishes, but my daughter refuses to have anything to do with me."_

"There must be something you can do!"

_"Look, tell me where you are and I will be there with my children within 24 hours."_

"But I thought you said there was a restraining order?"

_"That doesn't matter any more."_

Heero told Wufei where to meet him early the next morning. Wufei hung up without saying goodbye. Next Heero looked up Trowa. He picked up on the first ring.

_"Trowa Barton."_

"Trowa? It's Heero."

Trowa didn't say anything so Heero continued. He told Trowa about the kidnapping and about the plan that the boys had. 

_"Well, I do have a kid but I don't' think he's in any danger."_

"I'm pretty sure that these people were after the children of us Gundam pilots. How do you know that he's not in any danger?"

_"Well, about 16 years ago my girlfriend gave birth to my son and then she ran off with him and I haven't seen them since. No one but the girl and myself know that the child was mine."_

"Yes…but still…have you not tried to track the child down?"

_"No…"_

"But why not?"

_"She ran off for a reason. I'm not one to butt in where I'm not wanted."_

Heero didn't know what to say. If his girlfriend had ran off with his kid he would have been after them in an instant. Thank goodness he was married before he had a kid. The only possible explanation was that Trowa didn't want the kid.

"Well we'll still need your help…" Heero said.

_"I'll think about it."_

Heero said that was fine and hung up.

Trowa rubbed his eyes and thought. After 30 minutes Trowa got up. He called his old girlfriend. As he waited for someone to pick up he thought about the partial lie he had told Heero. He did know where his son was; his son was only a half hour away. His girlfriend had run off but that was only after Trowa had said he didn't' want a kid. The last time Trowa had seen his son was when he was three months old. After that Trowa had moved to a different colony but just two months ago he had moved back.

_"Hello?"_

"Brandie?"

_"Yes, who is this?"_

"It's me…Trowa."

For a moment neither one spoke.

_"I thought you left."_

"I moved back two months ago."

_"So what do you want?"_

"I know this might sound weird but I need to take Justin to one of the L3 colonies right away."

_"Absolutely not! I mean I have a family now. I found someone who wanted our son, someone who loves our son like he's his own. You really can't just walk back into our lives and expect everything to be okay."_

"A trusted friend told me that Justin might be in danger."

Brandie said nothing so Trowa repeated himself.

_"I heard you the first time. And this had better not be some sick joke either."_

"Brandie, you know me and you know I would never do anything like that."

_"Well I also thought that you would never tell me you didn't want our son."_

"I made a mistake, okay? I'm sorry, really I am. I wish I had never said any of those things to you. But you have to let me do this Brandie."

_"What kind of danger do you think Justin's in?"_

Trowa explained about what had happened to the others pilots' kids and what they planned on doing.

_"Well, I'll have to talk to Tim and call you back."_

"Okay but hurry because I don't have much time. I'd like to meet up with myfriend as soon as possible."

_"I'll call you as soon as I can."_

"Okay, bye."

Heero walked into Quatre's room where Duo, Shane, Quatre, Ashleigh, and Aaron were sitting on the two double beds watching TV.

"Did you get through to everyone?" Duo asked.

"Yeah. Wufei seems eager to help but I'm not sure what Trowa thinks. I'm expecting a call from Trowa soon and tomorrow morning we meet Wufei at a diner across the street. Once things are more settled then we can come up with a plan." Heero said. He sat down on a chair.

Trowa waited by the phone for an hour and then the doorbell interrupted him. He looked at his watch and wondered who it could be. Brandie still hadn't called back and Trowa was beginning to wonder if perhaps her husband had x-ed the whole idea. When he answered the door he was surprised to find 2 people he didn't know. 

"Trowa Barton?" the older of the men asked.

"Yes. May I help you?"

"My name is Tim Myers and this is my son, Justin. I'm Brandie's husband."

"Oh…come in. Brandie told me she would call me. I wasn't expecting you."

"I told Brandie not to call because I didn't know if your phone line was being tapped or not. I want to keep Justin as safe as possible."

"So then you're letting me take him?" Trowa asked, surprised. He kept looking at his son. The boy was tall. Almost 6 ft. he guessed. He had Trowa's brown hair and Brandie's blue eyes. He kept his eyes trained on the floor and wouldn't look at either Trowa or the man he called father.

"I believe that it's for the best. Brandie said she trusts you and I trust Brandie. Besides, I think that it's time that Justin met his real father." Tim smiled a sad smile.

"Thanks. I'll bring him back safe. I promise."

"I'm not worried. I know you'll do the right thing. Even if you didn't do the right thing 16 years ago God always gives us a second chance."

Trowa said nothing but noted the small reproof. He let it go, however, because he knew the man was right. He had messed up 16 years ago and he could never make it right but he could always do better. If he were in Tim's spot he would have said the same thing. Tim left a few minutes later and Trowa emailed Heero on his cell phone so that perhaps it could not be traced but Trowa knew that with the right technology it was possible. He told Heero that he would arrive some time the next morning. Heero called back a few minutes later to tell him to meet them in the diner. They would already be there with Wufei when he arrived. 

                                                                                                                                To Be Continued…


	3. shattered windows

The C.O.W. Project

Part 3

                Quatre, Ashleigh, Aaron, and Shane went down to the lobby of the hotel to see if there was anything edible in the free continental breakfast. Before they left the room they had left a note for Heero who had been in the shower. He found it and decided to join them so he headed down to the lobby. Heero almost missed them but Quatre was waiting for the elevator that Heero had taken down. Quatre explained that he had sent the kids up just a minute before and he offered to go with Heero and find him a cup of coffee. 

When the kids reached the floor where they were staying they went to Duo and Shane's room. Shane handed his father the cinnamon roll and orange juice that he had gotten for him.

                "Thanks Shane." Duo said. 

"No problem." Shane replied. 

Just then a loud bang sounded against the wall.

"That came from my room." Aaron said.

Something else hit the wall in the other room. 

Duo walked over to the wall separating his room from Heero's and knocked on it. "Heero? Are you okay in there?"

All of a sudden there was silence.

"Heero?" Duo tried again.

They listened for a minute and then Aaron and Duo ran to the other room. Shane and Ashleigh weren't far behind. Aaron used his key to unlock the door and they burst in the room. It was a mess. The draws were pulled out and one of the lamps was on the floor. There was a dent in the wall over it. They could hear water running in the bathroom so Duo ran in yelling Heero's name. Since Heero didn't answer Duo opened the curtain and prepared himself to see his friend lying there dead. Instead he found an empty shower. Just then they heard Heero and Quatre's voices from the bedroom.

"Hey guys, what happened here?" Heero asked when Duo came out of the bathroom followed by the rest of the kids.

"I think there was a break in." Duo said. "Whoever did this can't be far away, we have to find him. Heero you take the hallway, I'll take the fire escape and you kids call the police."

"No! Don't call the police. It's too risky. Whoever kidnapped the kids the first time might have ties within the police. The kids and I will get out of here, you and Duo hurry up!" Quatre said to Duo and Heero.  Heero was already on his way out the door and Duo was right behind him on his way to the fire escape. Quatre instructed the kids to get their stuff and meet him in the lobby.

Heero ran toward the stairs and began climbing to the roof. Once he got there he took a look around. Heero went to the edge to see a person dressed in black on the fire escape. Heero jumped onto the fire escape on the side of the building. Heero could see a man running up the flights of old metal stairs. Heero jumped over the railing and landed on the next floor down. At the sound of Heero the man had looked up for a second and that was all it took for the man to loose his footing a trip. Duo had also looked up to the top of the fire escape and watched as Heero jumped off the edge. Duo sighed as he ran up the remaining floor to the fallen figure in black. Heero jumped one more floor and reached the man the same time as Duo. The man had recovered from his fall and started racing down the stairs at brake-neck speed but found out that Duo was waiting for him. Duo and Heero were surprised at the man's size, compared to them he was very small. The man threw a punch at Heero but Heero dodged and Duo grabbed the assailant's waist to keep him from doing that again. The man struggled and all the struggling brought the man's hat off and long brown hair came tumbling out. The boys then realized that their robber was a woman. Shocked at this new development the girl took the opportunity and kicked Duo and pushed Heero. She then ran to the edge and jumped off to the ground. Duo and Heero leaned up against the railing, they were only one floor up but still, they watched as she hit the ground and tumbled. She stood up and ran off with a limp. Heero was about to follow her but Duo stopped him.

"Just let her go. There's no way we'll catch up to her if we get hurt as well."

"I wont get hurt. I was trained to do this kind of thing, remember?"

"Yes and so was I but we're not teenagers anymore. She is. Besides, we have kids to worry about. Come on, let's go to the diner."

Heero glared at Duo but gave up after a minute. "What about the others?"

"They said they were gonna get out as soon as they could. They're probably at the diner already. Come on." Duo ran down the rest of the fire escape and Heero reluctantly followed. He was still thinking about the girl.

"I'm sorry about what happened." Wufei said to his children. Kari sat in the passenger seat beside him and Bryant was in the back. Kari hadn't said much since her father whom she hadn't seen in over 4 months had taken her from karate class. The few things she had said hadn't been very nice and it was clear she didn't have much respect for her father. Wufei blamed that on the children's mother.

"I just want to let you know that I forgive you." Bryant said. "I understand why you did what you did. I would have probably done the same thing."

"Well I don't forgive you and I never will! I hope you die!" Kari said. Kari turned to the window of the rental car and stared out at the passing buildings of L3, anger flashing in her dark eyes. Kari and Justin were 14 months apart, Bryant was older and more like his father and Kari could be very hot spirited like her mother. Kari was into the punk look and at the moment she was wearing some rather large pants and a shirt that would offend a few people with what looked like a bike chain around her neck. Bryant was a little more practical and wore glasses, which made him look older than he really was. Wufei focused on the road and nothing was else said between the three.

Heero and Duo walked into the diner and spotted Quatre and the kids quickly. The kids sat at a table next to the booth that Quatre was sitting in. Heero and Duo joined Quatre in the booth. Duo ordered a breakfast plate and some orange juice. Aaron and Shane had also ordered breakfast and Ashleigh claimed she wasn't hungry. Quatre had a cup of hot tea and Heero wasn't hungry. He was still trying to figure out what someone would be looking for in their rooms. Heero had a strong suspicion that the girl was from the C.O.W. compound. Heero knew that the group had little or no time to find a safe place to hide. Heero's thoughts were interrupted by Duo. 

"Hey I think that's Wufei." Duo said pointing to the door. There stood an oriental man with 2 children. When he noticed the other former Gundam pilots in the back he started toward them.

Wufei said nothing when he reached the table producing an awkward silence.

"Hey Wufei! How's it going?" Duo offered.

"It's fine." Wufei answered.

"Well you can join us here and the kids are sitting over there." Duo said. 

The other kids had been staring at the new comers. Shane, like his father, was very out going but he was also somewhat more level headed so he got up and pulled 2 chairs over and offered Kari and Justin a seat. Shane then introduced himself and Aaron followed Shane's lead. 

"I'm Ashleigh Winner." Ashleigh finished.

"I'm Bryant and this is Kari." Bryant said, introducing himself and his sister.

The five teenagers started a conversation, as did the adults.

"So what is the plan Heero?" Wufei asked.

"I'd rather wait until Trowa gets here to say anything more." Heero said as the door to the diner jingled revealing to the diner that another person had walked in the door. The boys looked over to see an older looking Trowa and younger, taller looking Trowa. Duo was about to wave them over when the front window of the diner shattered from a spray of bullets. The customers screamed and took cover as best they could.

"They found us…" Heero thought as he tried to find his son.

                                                                                                                                To Be Continued…


	4. skip this chapter and go on to the real ...

Hey! Yeah I know, I'm cheating…hehe but how else are you supposed to get people to read your stuff if it's buried under everything else! And hey, if it made you read the fic then my job is done and my plan worked!

Tag! Your it! 

You've been tagged by Bishonen Chaser


	5. family matters

The C.O.W. Project  
Part 4  
  
  
"Trowa do you think you'll be alright?" Heero asked as he finished bandaging some cuts Trowa had gotten when he had been showered with glass.   
"Yeah I'm fine. How is Justin?"  
"He's doing fine. He wasn't hurt. Your body shielded him."  
"What about the others?"  
"They're all fine as well. We ducked in time."  
"Where are we?"  
"An abandoned warehouse and it's getting late. We hid in the sewer until some men had finished searching it and we were going to find another place to stay when Justin suggested that we stay here since they already searched it, it would be the last place they'd look. You're son is pretty smart, you know."  
"No, I wouldn't. I'm ashamed to not know him. It is my fault after all."  
"Don't sweat it, we all make mistakes."  
  
Duo looked over at his son who was playing cards with Aaron, Ashleigh, and Bryant. Heero was talking with Trowa and Quatre was busy on his cell phone. Duo thought he remembered Quatre saying something about calling his ex-wife. Duo listened for a moment to the sound of rain on the rooftop and then he looked over at Wufei who was sleeping...or something...in a corner by a small lamp so Duo decided to join him.  
"Hey Wufei, what's up?"  
"Hn." Wufei said, not opening his eyes.  
"It's raining pretty hard. It's getting pretty dark outside and I'm hungry." Duo paused to give Wufei a chance to say something but he sat silent, his eyes still closed. "So, how did you get this restraining order put on you in the first place?"  
"I don't want to talk about it."  
"Whoa, a whole sentence from Mr. Silent. Come on, I'm just trying to make conversation here."  
"Alright, how's this for a conversation. How did your wife die, Duo? Huh, tell me that!" Wufei said turning to stare at his old friend.  
"Wufei? What's gotten in to you? You're bitter about something, aren't you?"  
"My life is none of your concern." And with that Wufei picked up his lantern and prepared to walk away.  
"Cancer."  
Wufei turned.  
"She had cancer." Duo said once more.  
"I'm sorry." Wufei said just before he walked away leaving Duo alone in the darkness.  
"So is that it? I answer your question and you're just going to walk away? I think I deserve an answer to a few of my questions!" Duo said, following a few seconds later.  
"As I said before, my life is none of your business." Wufei kept walking.  
"Listen here, I'm just trying to help you! I'm not trying to hurt you!"  
Wufei turned and held the lantern close to his face so that Duo could get a good look. "My children hate me and I've lost the only family I've known! There is no way you can relate to what I've been through." Wufei almost shouted.  
"In case you've forgotten, I lost my wife!"  
"But at least she loved you."  
"Look Wufei, things change! People move on!"  
"She's poisoned my own children against me!"  
"Yes but you can't go through life afraid of your past!"  
Wufei was through talking and out of sheer rage he punched Duo in the nose. Quatre saw this and quickly ran over.   
"Wufei, calm down."  
"I'm going to get something to eat." Wufei replied.  
Quatre sighed as Wufei walked off. He then turned to Duo. "Duo, are you alright?"  
Duo looked at Quatre through his hands and mumbled something.  
"I'm sorry Duo, what was that? I couldn't understand you."  
"I said I think my nose is broken." Duo said removing bloody hands from his face.  
"I have a first aid kit over here." Quatre said. "Come with me."  
  
  
  
"So dude, what's up with your sister?" Shane asked Bryant as he pointed at Kari who was walking around the warehouse.  
"She's mad at my dad for kidnapping us."  
"He kidnapped you?" Ashleigh asked as she dealt the cards for another hand of Jin Rummy.  
"Yeah, he picked me up from school and then he took Kari from her karate class."  
"Didn't someone notice that two kids were being kidnapped?" Aaron joined the conversation.  
"No, because before my mom took out the restraining order he used to pick us up all the time."  
"Well then why should she be mad, he did it to protect her." Shane said.  
"Yeah but she doesn't understand. She's a girl and she's believed everything my mother has told her about my father."  
"Well is it true?" Ashleigh asked.  
"No, of course not! It's all lies!" Bryant said taking offence that Ashleigh would suggest such a thing.  
"How do you know that?" Ashleigh continued.  
"I can't believe you're saying this! My father is a just man who has never done anything wrong!"  
"Oh so you're saying he's perfect, is that it?"  
"Are you saying he's not?"  
"He's killed people before."  
"My father has never killed anyone! Have you been talking to Kari? My mother was wrong!! Don't you start believing her lies as well."  
"You mean you don't know?" Ashleigh asked, surprised that his father had never told him.  
"All I know is that my father would never lie to me and all you people are crazy!" And with that Bryant ran off to one of the many non-lighted areas of the warehouse.  
  
"So Wufei never told him." Duo said to Quatre. The two of them had been watching from a distance while Quatre fixed Duo nose.  
"I guess not." Quatre answered.  
"I can see why. I never told Aaron the details but I told him some." Heero said as he and Trowa joined the other two pilots.  
Duo and Quatre agreed that they had taken the same approach as Heero.  
"Should we really let Wufei's son roam the warehouse by himself?" Trowa asked.  
"Well he should be safe enough but I guess you're right. I'll go look for him." Duo offered.  
Soon after Duo walked into the darkness, armed only with a flashlight, Wufei returned with some Chinese pick-up. After calling everyone together Wufei noticed that his son was gone, as well as Duo.  
"Where's Bryant and Duo?" Wufei asked, though you could tell by his voice that he was more worried by his missing son than fellow pilot.  
"Oh he got into a fight with us and got mad at Ashleigh for some things she said and then he ran off. I think he went up to the upper level." Shane said.  
"Ashleigh, what did you say to him?" Quatre asked his daughter.  
"I just asked him some questions, that's all." Ashleigh said.  
None of the other teens offered any more information so no other questions were asked.  
"He'll calm down soon enough. He's been through a lot. I wouldn't worry about him." Wufei said.  
"Well just to be safe we didn't want him wandering around by himself so Duo went to look for him." Heero explained.  
"But still, they should be back by now, don't you think?" Quatre asked.  
As if to answer Quatre's question the glass from one of the skylights shattered and fell to the floor a few feet away from the makeshift table where everyone was seated. Shouts could be heard admits the rain that was now pouring through the hole. Nothing could be seen except for a small trickle of light coming through the skylight and casting a shadow of two men locked together in a struggle. Suddenly a body fell through the open skylight and someone could be heard screaming in Chinese in the background.  
"BRYANT!" Wufei yelled as he began to run.  
  
  
To Be Continued...  
  
  
  
  
Authors note: yeah I know, not a very long chapter but hey, it ends when it ends! Besides, I thought this was a good place to end it! Nice cliffhanger and everything! Hope you're enjoying and don't forget to review!  
  
Reviewer response:  
  
Unrealistic: yes I know I'm evil! But I hope this real chapter makes up for my evilness!  
  
Rho Omicron: well I'm not finished but this chapter is definetly a step in the right direction! 


	6. what a tangled web we weave, when first ...

The C.O.W. Project  
Part 5  
  
  
Duo walked up the rusted old stairs in the warehouse and looked down on the floor below at his friends. He sighed and continued climbing. When he reached the second floor he heard the large door to the warehouse open and Duo assumed that Wufei must have just gotten back. The first floor was open all the way to the ceiling where there were a few skylights and on the second floor were many different rooms that went around the top warehouse. From anywhere on the second floor you could look down and see whoever was on the first floor unless they were right under you. Most of the doors were locked that Duo checked but he soon came to one that was open a crack. Duo walked inside the almost dark room and wondered why he didn't bring a flashlight or something with him. When Duo stepped into the room he noticed that the floor was wet and he followed the puddles to a ladder that was propped up against a door to the roof. The door was swinging in the wind and rain was coming through. Duo noticed wet footprints in-between the puddles and figured that Bryant had gone onto the roof. Duo shook his head and started up the ladder. When he exited the warehouse the rain immediately drenched him.   
"Bryant?" Duo yelled into the rain. "Bryant!" Duo looked around and saw a body standing at the edge of the roof and looking down. Duo walked over to him and put an arm on his shoulder. "I know you've been through a lot and that you're probably very scared right now but if there's one thing I've learned in my life it's to alwa-" Duo stopped suddenly when the person he was talking to turned and Duo realized that it wasn't Bryant. But before Duo could act the man yelled something down to someone on the ground. He then turned and Duo saw that he held a knife in his hand. Duo thought quickly and lunged for the man's hand in an attempt to grab the knife. The man with the knife had been trained well and dodged the attack before coming with one of his own. Duo was caught off guard and that was just the opportunity the man needed to stab Duo in the ribs. Duo was powerless to do anything through the pain and his attacker was about to get away when all of a sudden Duo could hear screaming in Chinese and a figure appeared out of nowhere and pushed Duo's attacker to the ground. Bryant jumped over Duo and jumped on the attacker once more. The two rolled around a bit until, with one hard shove, Bryant sent the man flying into skylight and he crashed through it. Duo looked up to see Bryant looking over the skylight and still yelling in Chinese. He then ran over to Duo.  
"Are you alright?"  
"I'll be fine."  
"Are you hurt?"  
"Yeah."  
"Let me see." Bryant moved Duo's hands and looked at his wound. "It's bad, you're going to need a doctor."  
"I'll be fine." Duo shut his eyes to the pain as he passed out.  
  
Everyone was frozen in shock when Wufei ran to the stairs. Finally Heero took action.  
"Trowa, see to the body. Quatre, make sure the kids are okay and I'll go help Wufei." Heero then followed Wufei up the stairs.  
Quatre made sure that all the children except Bryant were accounted for and told them to watch out for each other. Quatre then ran over to help Trowa.  
"He's still alive." Trowa said.  
"Don't you mean, she?" Quatre said as he pointed to the long brown hair that had fallen out of the attacker's hat. Trowa stopped and stared. The body was rather small and the face did look rather feminine when you looked at it.   
"What are we going to do?" Trowa asked.  
"We need to get her to a hospital." Quatre answered.  
Suddenly Wufei appeared with Duo being held up by him and Heero. Bryant followed close behind.  
"We need an ambulance." Heero yelled.  
Aaron ran over to his fathers cell phone and quickly dialed 911.  
"991 emergency, how may I help you?" A voice answered.  
"Yes I hav-"   
Heero grabbed the phone away from his son.  
"We have 2 wounded, one with a stab wound and the other fell from a great distance. Both need medical attention immediately."  
"Where are you sir?"  
"An abandoned warehouse. I'm not sure where."  
"Can you tell me anything about the buildings around it?"  
"There is a diner close by, it was the one where the drive by occurred earlier today."  
"Someone will be there shortly."  
Heero said nothing and hung up. He then ran over to the other body where he and Wufei had just laid Duo. When he had laid Duo down he didn't look closely at the other body but this time he was able to get a good look.  
"Wait, wait a second, this is the same person who Duo and I chased at the hotel!" Heero said.  
"Is the ambulance coming?" Quatre asked.  
"Yes..." Heero said still thinking about the girl from earlier who was now lying in front of him, almost dead. "We can't stay and wait for the ambulance to arrive."   
"What? We have no choice!" Quatre said.  
"People will become suspicious if there is a whole group here and they're going to ask questions and we can't have that."  
"But we can't just leave Duo and this girl here!"  
"Then you stay, just you and no one else."  
"No!" Ashleigh said as she ran to embrace her father.  
"I'll stay." Wufei said walking forward. "It's my fault that Duo was hurt, he went looking for my son and he didn't have to. I'll stay."  
"Then it's done." Heero said. "Everyone else follow me."  
"But how will I get in touch with you?" Wufei asked.  
"We'll call you." Heero said, throwing Wufei his phone.  
"Bryant!" Wufei said, grabbing his son's sleeve.  
"Yes?"  
"Take care of your sister and make me proud!"  
"Yes, sir." Bryant said looking at his feet.  
In the distance sirens could be heard so Heero tried to get everyone out of there as quickly as he could. Everyone but Bryant was out of the door when suddenly he turned.  
"Father?" He yelled to Wufei.  
"Come on Bryant, we don't have time!" Heero yelled.  
"What?" Wufei asked.  
"Did you ever kill anyone?" Bryant asked as Heero grabbed hold of him and tried to pull him to the exit.  
Wufei didn't answer.  
"Tell me! I need to know the truth!" Bryant struggled against Heero.  
Wufei looked straight at his son and said, "Never."  
Heero stopped pulling on Bryant and stared at Wufei. He couldn't believe what he had just witnessed. Bryant turned and ran out the door with a smile on his face. Heero turned more slowly and on his face there was a frown. Wufei looked down so he could avoid Heero's gaze. The deafening sound of the sirens reminded Heero of the danger they were all in so he ran out to join the others and Wufei was left alone to think about the damage that would have to be reversed because of the lies he had told.  
  
To Be Continued...  
  
  
Authors note: well I'm glad you guys seem to like the fic so far! In the next chapter I'll try to have some happy moments so that you guys aren't bombarded with angst and mystery in every chapter! When I first started it I didn't get that many reviews but now they seem to be piling up! Thanks a bunch guys! I was gonna put this pic on hold but all these reviews has made me want to finish it! I'll try to do so soon! Thanks again and don't forget to review!!   
  
Reviewer Response:  
  
Dream Keeper: Wow! Thanks for all the reviews! I think you did one for every chapter! Well it seems that you...and your muse...seem to like the fic! Let's see, you asked where my muse was...well I don't have one and I don't plan on getting one. I'm rather independent so if I had a muse we would just get into fights and one of us would end up moving out and going to stay with our mothers! Let's see, the name Brandie...I'm sorry to say but it actually came from the name of this girl that I didn't like! She was 2 years older than me but she treated my like a little kid! I guess it's a good thing you don't like your name! Hehe! And as for the ideas, they come to me while I'm randomly sitting around because I have no life! I tend to sit and think, "I wonder what would happen if..." and my mind starts wondering and I put the g-boys, or my original characters, in weird situations and I just play out how they would react and that's how I get this weird stuff! You should read my original fics; they are a lot like this one. I think you might like them! Thanks again for all the wonderful reviews! 


	7. Broken into pieces

The C.O.W. Project  
Part 6  
  
  
"Sir, can you tell me what happened?" The paramedic asked Wufei.  
Wufei looked at the door to the room where Duo was being treated. The girl was one room over. "I was walking when it started to rain and I ducked in here to avoid getting wet and I heard noises on the roof. I went up there to see what was going on and I saw these two struggling. The woman stabbed the man and then he threw her off of him and she crashed through the skylight. I helped the man down the stairs where he then passed out and then I checked on the woman. She was still breathing so I called 911."   
"So you had never met any of these people before?"  
"No, never."  
As the paramedic was writing this all down a doctor came up to Wufei. "The man with the stab wound is awake and he wishes to see you. He said he refused to tell us what happened until he spoke with you."  
"What did he say exactly?" Wufei asked, hoping that Duo didn't blow his cover.  
"After we told him that he was saved he said that he would like to meet the person who saved him."  
"Oh, okay." Wufei said as he walked toward Duo's door. Wufei slowly walked in and saw Duo lying on a bed without a shirt and a large bandage over the ribs on his right side.  
Duo looked up in surprise but with a small gesture by Wufei Duo realized that Wufei didn't want him to say anything until the doctor left. The doctor checked a few monitors, asked how Duo was feeling and then left Wufei and Duo alone to talk.  
"They didn't tell me it was you who saved me." Duo said.  
"They don't know that we know each other." Wufei said. "So be careful what you say."  
"Don't worry about it buddy. I thought that it might be one of you guys so I refused to tell them what happened so that I could make sure we had our stories straight. So what did you tell them?"  
"I told them that I went in there to get out of the rain and I found you fighting with someone and then I called 911."  
"Oh, so now they're going to want to know why I was fighting."  
"Just tell them that your wallet was stolen and you were chasing the person who stole it."  
"Yeah okay, that will work."  
"So, how bad is it? The paramedic didn't tell me."  
"22 stitches."  
"Ouch!"  
"It's okay, as long as I don't move quickly."  
"Hey Duo," Wufei said a minute later. "No hard feelings? About earlier I mean."  
"Nah, I understand how you feel. It's okay."  
"Oh, okay." Wufei paused, not sure what he should say next.  
"So fill me in. What happened while I was out?"  
"Well we decided that we couldn't all stay there and wait for the ambulance so I offered to stay."  
"What about the man I was fighting with?"  
"Well, perhaps you should come look for yourself." Wufei said.  
"What do you mean? Did he survive the fall?" Duo asked trying to sit up. Duo found that sitting up was a bad idea and leaned back on his pillows.  
"Are you okay?" Wufei asked when Duo squinted in pain from trying to sit up.  
"Yeah...I'll be fine..." Duo said with a sharp intake of breath.  
"Well I'll go talk to a doctor and see if it's alright for you to get up." Wufei left the room and found the doctor in the hallway and asked about Duo.  
"Yes, in fact that would be a good idea for Duo to move around." The Doctor answered.  
Wufei went back into Duo's room to tell him what the Doctor said and to help him up. Once Duo was up they left the room and started walking down the hall.  
"So where is he?" Duo asked.  
"He? Oh yeah, you don't know. Um, just one room over from you."  
"Don't know what?"  
"You'll see." Wufei said opening the door to the room.  
Duo walked in and sedated on the bed was a body, an unmistakably female body. "Wufei I think we're in the wrong room. This is a girl." Duo whispered.  
"No, this is the right room. Take a closer look."  
Duo walked closer to the bed and it was then that he realized that his attacker had been a woman, the same woman he had fought with that morning. "Is she going to be okay?"  
"You'll notice that part of her head is shaved, she had a bad cut on her head and she broke her left arm in 2 places and fractured her right wrist. Her left ankle is broken and there was something about her left knee. Her right leg is fine but she has a concussion and right now she's in a coma. Oh yeah, and she dislocated her right shoulder plus multiple fractures all over."  
"Wow, do they know who she is?"  
"They're working on it." Wufei said as a doctor walked in.  
"Mr. Chang?"  
"Yes?" Wufei answered.  
"The papers have come back and we know who this girl is."  
"Who is it?"  
"Take a look for your self." The doctor said, handing Wufei the file.  
  
"Are you sure?" Heero asked over the phone.  
"Positive. They've called Une and she's coming here and will arrive sometime late this evening."  
"It is late this evening."  
"Oh yeah, I forgot."  
"But she had red hair, not brown."  
"They colored it." Wufei said.  
"I just can't believe that it is Mariemaia Kushrenada!"  
  
To Be Continued...  
  
  
  
Authors note: haha, good twist, no? And don't worry; she's not going to be the bad guy! About those happy parts...um sorry about that but I decided to end the chap before I got to any! But Duo isn't dead, that's a happy part! And Wufei and Duo made up, another happy part! But I promise that there will some nice happy parts in the next chapter! Review and make an author happy!! 


	8. French fries and happy times... O.o what...

The C.O.W. Project  
Part 7  
  
  
Wet and tiered, three fathers and six teenagers checked into a run down hotel. Quatre and Trowa went out to get some food since they weren't able to eat any of the dinner that Wufei had gotten. All the kids crashed together in one of the three rooms hat had been rented and turned on the TV while Heero called Wufei in the room one over. Ashleigh fell asleep right away on one of the double beds in the room while Kari and Bryant sat on the other. Shane, Aaron, and Justin were on the floor with a few pillows and after a while Shane started snoring. Heero walked back in and announced that he was going to take a shower. A few minutes later Heero emerged from the bathroom and grumbled something about there not being any hot water.   
"Listen kids, I'm gonna go take a shower in the other room if you need me." Heero said.  
"Okay dad." Aaron said.  
"Keep the door locked. Quatre, Trowa and I all have keys so we wont knock, if someone knocks don't answer it because it isn't one of us."  
"Okay dad." Aaron answered once again.  
"Don't leave this room for any reason." Heero waited for the 'okay dad' from his son but it never came. "Aaron?" Heero said a second later.  
"Okay dad." Aaron said his eyes never leaving the TV screen.  
"Teenagers!" Heero grumbled as he turned to leave.  
"Okay dad!" Aaron said as his father left the room.  
"Very funny Aaron." Heero yelled back right before he shut the door. Heero's last words to his son woke Shane up.  
"What?" What did I miss?" Shane asked.  
"Nothing." Aaron said. "Just my dad lecturing us on not leaving the room."  
"Oh..." Shane said sitting up a little and balling up the pillow he was lying on before he laid back down on it.   
Watching Shane reminded Aaron of how uncomfortable he was on the floor so he stood up and sat on the edge of the bed. The bed sank a lot and a blonde head rolled into Aaron's back. Ashleigh had fallen asleep lying on the bed from side to side instead of top to bottom. The extra weight on the bed caused her head to roll over to one side and she woke up. Aaron turned and looked at Ashleigh as she opened her eyes.  
"Oh I'm sorry, did I wake you up?" Aaron asked, standing up.  
"No, it's okay." Ashleigh said sitting up.   
"Are you sure because I can move back onto the floor." Aaron said.  
"No really, it's okay." Ashleigh said as she scooted up and sat on the edge of the bed.  
Aaron nodded and sat back down beside Ashleigh. A few minutes later Ashleigh got up and walked toward the door.  
"Where are you going? We're not supposed to leave the room." Aaron said.  
"Oh...well I have a headache, do you have any Tylenol?"  
"No, my dad might but he's in the shower and I wouldn't know where it would be."  
"Well I'll be okay. It's just one room over. I'll be back in 5 minutes." Ashleigh said as she opened the door a crack.  
Aaron got up. "Well I'll go with you just to be safe."  
"You don't have to."  
"Yes I do, cause I'd feel really bad if something happened to you because I let you leave the room when I wasn't supposed to. Besides, it's always good for young ladies to have strong young men to protect them." Aaron said as he made a show of flexing his 16-year-old muscles.  
Ashleigh smiled and rolled her eyes as she and Aaron walked out the door.  
  
Quatre and Trowa returned about the same time Heero got out of the shower.  
"We picked up Wendy's for everyone, I hope that's okay." Quatre said.  
"Oh food, I'm starving!" Shane said as soon as his teenage boy food radar woke up him.  
"Where's Ashleigh?" Quatre asked after a quick sweep of the room.  
"Oh she and Aaron went to her room to get something." Shane said between mouthfuls.  
"I told him not to leave the room." Heero said as he and Quatre hurried out the door.  
  
Aaron waited by the door while Ashleigh took 2 Tylenol with a glass of water in the bathroom.  
"Are you okay?" Aaron asked when Ashleigh came out.  
"Yeah, I'll be fine as soon as the medicine kicks in."  
"You know, I was thinking...um...maybe when this is all over, you might like to...well...uh...go out sometime?" Aaron stumbled through the question quickly.  
Ashleigh smiled. "Well you'll have to talk to my dad about that..."  
Aaron looked confused. He wasn't sure if that was a 'yes' or a 'no' and he wasn't sure if he should really ask her dad or just drop it.  
"But I'll try to nudge him the right direction." Ashleigh said with a wink.  
Aaron smiled and walked with Ashleigh back to the other room but both were taken by surprise when they ran into their fathers on the sidewalk outside.  
"Aaron! What are you doing? I told you specifically not to leave the room!" Heero said, scolding his son.  
"Ashleigh, you know better than to disobey." Quatre said.  
"I'm sorry dad but I had a headache and I really needed medicine and I was going to go by my self but Aaron offered to come with so me so that I wouldn't have to go alone."   
"It couldn't wait until I got back?"  
"Well I didn't know how long you were going to be and I was sleepy so I wasn't thinking straight."  
"Yeah, sorry dad, I was just trying to do the right thing." Aaron said to his father.  
"If it makes you feel any better, he tried to talk me out of going." Ashleigh said to Heero as she tried to stick up for Aaron.  
"It's okay." Quatre said, hugging his daughter. "Just be more careful next time."  
"Yeah, it was good for 2 of you to go together but next time, if you really have to leave without an adult, go in a larger group." Heero said.   
"Come on, we have Wendy's in the room." Quatre said walking back into the room.  
  
The kids were now wide-awake, food will do that to teenagers, and they were talking loudly and all were gathered on both of the beds. Heero, Quatre, and Trowa all crowded around the small table near the door.   
"So Heero, did you talk to Wufei?" Quatre asked.  
"Oh yes, he said that Duo is fine and that they will release him sometime tonight so we should expect them back. And they know the identity of the attacker."  
"Who is it?" Trowa asked.  
"Mariemaia."  
"No way, that's not possible." Quatre said. "The Mariemaia I knew had bright red hair and that girl had brown."  
"Wufei said that it was colored."  
"Who is she working for?" Trowa wondered out loud.  
"That's what we need to find out." Heero said.  
'Well what if she was kidnapped like our kids?" Quatre asked.  
"She would be like, what? 25, 26 now? It's kind of hard to kidnap someone that age!" Heero said.  
"Besides, we would have heard something of it." Trowa said.  
"You're right. So that means that she was working for whomever by will." Quatre said.  
"Well Une is flying in tonight and when she gets to the hospital Wufei is going to call us. I'd really like to talk to her." Heero said.  
Quatre and Trowa both nodded in agreement.  
  
"...so then the guy got mad at me and I was like, dude, I work here! Go away!" The group of teenagers broke into laughter at what Shane had said. Shane laughed too and stole one of Bryant's fries.  
Aaron leaned over to Ashleigh and pointed at the half empty carton. "Shane has taken at least half and Bryant still hasn't noticed."  
Ashleigh then reached over herself and stole one of Bryant's fries.  
Kari smiled a little as she had seen all the times someone had taken a fry; she then took one for herself. After the laughter died down a little bit Bryant reached for one of his fries and realized that half of them were missing.  
"Alright, who took my fries?" Bryant asked looking around the room.  
"It was Aaron." Shane said.  
"What? Dude, you did it first!" Aaron said pointing a fry at Shane.  
"It was both." Ashleigh whispered to Bryant.  
"Oh yeah, and one other!" Aaron and Shane said together looking right at Ashleigh.  
"You can't prove it!" Ashleigh said, popping one of Aaron's fries in her mouth.  
"Well prove this!" Aaron said taking a fry covered in ketchup and drawing a streak across Ashleigh's cheek.  
"Uh! I can't believe you just did that! Fine, we'll play your way." Ashleigh said smearing honey mustard on Aaron's nose.  
"Now that was uncalled for." Aaron said.   
"No, this is uncalled for!" Shane said squeezing a whole packet of ketchup onto Aaron's head. "I challenge you to a duel!" Shane said, standing on the bed that he and Aaron and Ashleigh had been sitting on.  
"You're on! Whoever wins gets the pretty lady!" Aaron said pointing to Ashleigh.  
The other 4 teenagers began to laugh and Ashleigh quickly climbed off the bed before the fight began.  
  
"You know Quatre, I think Aaron might have a thing for Ashleigh." Heero said as the 3 adults watched Shane and Aaron hit each other with pillows.  
"What? No, you're just imagining it." Quatre said. "Ashleigh is not allowed to like boys."  
"Haha, welcome to the future!" Trowa said. "It's obvious."  
"Well I don't like teenage boys and Ashleigh isn't allowed to like them either until she's 30...at least!" Quatre said, the 'father of a daughter' side of him showing.  
"Aaron's a good boy, I don't think you'll have to worry about anything." Heero said.  
"Well I'm glad it's your son and not some random guy at her school or something." Quatre said with a smile.  
"They grow up fast." Trowa said.  
"Amen to that!" Quatre agreed.  
"Which is why we must do everything we can to keep them safe." Heero concluded.  
  
To Be Continued...  
  
  
  
Authors note: Oh boy...what have I gotten myself in to! Well the happy parts I promised were delivered! I know the plot didn't really go anywhere in this chapter but, oh well! Not much I can do now! Hope you enjoyed it! Don't forget to review!! (the person with the longest review gets another chapter...wait, everyone who reviews gets another chapter...shoot, everyone gets another chapter anyway! But if you review I feel better about my self and don't have to go to counseling...did I just say that out loud? Haha, j/k!)  
  
Reviewer response: 


	9. Just like old times

The C.O.W. Project  
Part 8  
  
  
Quatre looked at his cell phone and noticed Heero's number on his caller ID.  
""Heero, Wufei is calling." Quatre said as he picked up the phone.   
"Hey kids, hold it down a minute." Heero said, attempting to quiet the teenagers.  
Everyone listened in silence as Quatre spoke to Wufei.  
"Duo's been let go? ...That's great! ...Oh so Lady Une just got there. ...Okay, Heero will be there in a minute." Quatre hung up the phone and related to the others what Wufei had told him. "Okay, Wufei said that Duo has been discharged and that they need someone to pick them up. He also said that Lady Une had just arrived and but Wufei had not spoken to her because he doesn't want her to blow his and Duo's cover."  
"Okay I'm on my way." Heero said standing up. He looked at his watch. "It's only 11 o'clock so Quatre, call the rental car place around here and rent me a car, tell them I'll pick it up in a few minutes. Also, rent another one for tomorrow because we can't just walk everywhere and we'll need at least two to get around anyway. We can pick that one up tomorrow morning."  
"Where are we going tomorrow?" Trowa asked.  
"Well I want to talk about it with you when I get back." Heero said. "I think I've got a plan."  
Quatre began dialing as Heero ran out the door.  
  
Heero walked into the emergency room to find Duo sitting in a wheelchair.  
"Hey buddy! What took you so long?" Duo asked.  
"Mix-up at the rental agency." Heero said, rolling his eyes.  
"Hmm, hate it when that happens." Duo said with a smile.  
"Well... not always..." Heero said.  
"What's that supposed to mean?"  
"I'll show you later." Heero said looking around the room. "So where is Wufei?"  
"He's sitting over to your right in the corner."  
Heero turned around and sure enough Wufei was sitting all by himself.  
"The hospital thinks that he left. After all, we're not supposed to know each other."  
"Oh, okay." Heero said. "Stay here, I'll be right back."  
"Where am I gonna go?" Duo asked as Heero walked over to Wufei.  
  
Heero walked by Wufei and dropped the keys to the car he had just rented into Wufei's lap. "You'll find it. Come pick us up in 20 minutes." Heero said as he walked right by Wufei without looking at him.  
Wufei waited a few minutes and then he got up and casually left the hospital.  
  
"Is she going to be okay?" Lady Une asked the doctor.  
"Well, she will live but we're not sure how much permanent damage has been done."  
Lady Une sighed. She hadn't seen her adopted daughter since she went off to college 8 years before. While Lady Une stared at the body of Mariemaia the doctor excused himself and left the room. Lady Une leaned down and kissed her daughters forehead and then turned to leave but was surprised to see a ghost standing in the doorway.  
"Heero Yuy?" Une said, staring at the figure standing before her.  
"Lady Une." Heero acknowledged.  
"What are you doing here?"  
"I need to ask you a few questions regarding Mariemaia."  
"I'm afraid that I know even less than you. I haven't seen her in 8 years and I haven't spoken to her in 6."  
"So you wouldn't happen to know who she was working for?"  
"I'm sorry. I'm not going to be much help to you. May I ask why you need to know?"  
"Come with me." Heero said as he left the room.  
  
"...so there was a fight and she was thrown through a skylight." Heero finished.  
Lady Une had tears in her eyes and her hands covered her mouth. "I had no idea!" she said, over and over again.  
Heero wrote something on a piece of paper and handed it to Lady Une. "I need to speak to Mariemaia as soon as I can. When she wakes up and is well enough to speak to me give me a call. This is my home number. You can leave a message because I probably won't be there but I'll check machine often.   
Lady Une took the piece of paper and thanked Heero.  
"Remember, you can't tell anyone what's going and if you find out anything call me and leave me a message, also at that number."  
"Okay. Take care, Heero Yuy." Lady Une said as Heero began walking off.  
Heero stopped and turned around. Lady Une was smiling so Heero smiled back even though his heart was troubled.  
  
"So you just gave him the keys and told him to find it?" Duo asked Heero as soon as he had returned from speaking with Lady Une.  
"Yeah, so what?" Heero asked as he pushed Duo out of the hospital and up the curb.  
"What makes you think it will be so easy to find? All rental cars look the same!"   
"Just trust me..." Heero said.  
Suddenly a loud motor could be heard coming from the parking deck and up sped a bright red convertible sports car. Wufei was at the wheel.  
"Holy...Where did you get this thing?" Duo asked as Heero lifted the front seat and helped him climb into the back seat.  
"Like I said, mix-up at the rental place."  
"Come on and get in." Wufei said, revving the engine. "It's late and I'm tiered."  
"You just want to drive this thing don't you?" Duo said, calling Wufei's bluff.  
"I hope you're buckled in Maxwell." Wufei said as Heero put his shoulder strap on.  
"Oh yeah right, like you're actually gonna go fast enough to hurt anyone, you old man!" Duo said, quickly buckling in.  
"Old man? I'll show you old man!" Wufei said as he sped out of the parking lot.  
The three pilots whooped like they were still 17...even though they were really 36 and had teenage children of their own...who were still in a lot of danger...  
  
To Be Continued...  
  
  
  
Authors note: well I managed to squeeze some more happy parts in this chapter! Maybe it's cause I'm working on an extremely sad angst fic right now so I don't feel like I have to put so much of it in here! Anyways, thanks for reading this far! Next part should be out pretty soon! And I guess I should warn you guys now...I'm leaving on Sept. 23rd for 8 weeks!! And I won't have access to a comp but...I will be writing while I'm there and if you want you can write me by way of snail mail! (I want to be the girl who gets the most mail while I'm there) you can email me if you want that address and if you want to hear more about where I'm going and why email me about that as well because I'm always looking for more people to complain to about this! (as you may have guessed I REALLY don't want to go) it's an all girls finishing school-type thingy...with a very strict dress code...skirts...24/7... *shutter*...long ones too...oh the horror! And the worst part is...there's more! Email me if you wanna hear the gory details! Or you can email to talk about happier things because I love getting email anyway! ^.^* Well as always, don't forget to review!  
~Bishonen Chaser  
  
Reviewer Response:  
  
Trowakun: You like to bounce don't you? Well I'm glad you like the fic! Thank you soooooooooo much for reading and reviewing every chapter! It means a lot to me! *hugs*   
  
Dream Catcher: Thanks a bunch for keeping with the fic and still coming back for more! You and Trowakun are the only reasons I'm still writing this fic! Otherwise I think I would have given up by now! *hugs* 


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